Delaware River agency to hold hearings on natural gas drilling

WEST TRENTON, N.J. — The Delaware River Basin Commission has agreed to hold hearings in northeast Pennsylvania on whether to strengthen or weaken its moratorium on drilling for natural gas in the river basin.

More than 500 people attended the commission’s meeting Wednesday in West Trenton, New Jersey.

Landowners argue that they should be able to lease the mineral rights to their land. Environmentalists say the process of drilling for natural gas, known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking, could pollute groundwater.

The agency has legal authority over water quality and quantity issues in the Delaware River basin areas of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The vast Marcellus Shale formation and its lucrative natural gas deposits underlie much of the covered region.

The drilling moratorium is in effect until the commission adopts gas drilling regulations.